Traditional East Indian ceremonies are extremely ornate, elaborate, and luxurious. They often require above-average time and effort on the part of the bride, groom, and their families because of their size and the many details involved. Mandeep and Chirag, a wonderful couple that Arcularius Events had the pleasure of working with, decided to join their cultures by celebrating their wedding with Sikh and Hindu ceremonies.

Countless hours were spent hand-delivering invitations to each of the 650 guests, and many more hours were spent on several trips to India for jewelry and clothing shopping. Check out these incredible jewels!!

Mandeep and Chirag’s wedding day was truly one of the longest that Arcularius Events has ever been involved in. The couple began preparing at 5 AM to be ready for their first ceremony at the Sikh Temple. This was followed by their first lunch recepetion, their Hindu ceremony, and finally the main wedding reception for their 650 guests. Arcularius Events was most involved in the Hindu ceremony, so let’s take a look at how a traditional Hindu ceremony is organized:

To kick off the Hindu ceremony, the groom led his party in a procession and was received by the bride’s mother, who applied kukum to his forehead.

He was then greeted by his lovely bride, who presented him with a garland of red and white flowers. The giving of the garland reflects ancient Hindu custom in which the bride would choose her groom by presenting him with flowers.

The bride and groom then made their way the the mandap, a sacred structure under which the bride and groom perform wedding rituals and exchange their vows.

Gorgeous pictures of the many rituals from the ceremony. The henna on Mandeep’s hands was absolutely exquisite.

At the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom’s clothing was tied together and they circled the ritual site, with seven final steps for food, strength, prosperity, happiness, children, harmony, and friendship. What more could you ask for?

After the ceremony in the mandap, Mandeep and Chirag circled the room to thank some of their friends and family members…

…and then it was time for them to change, and for the eating and cake cutting to begin.

Along with the bride and groom’s transformation, the mandap was turned into an intimate, elegant head table with plenty of beautiful fresh flowers.

The evening ended with a giant dance party, with what seemed like all 650 guests up and out of their seats, boogying down until midnight. This group knew how to have fun!